Thank you so much my dear friend for this excellent and most important question! The verse to which you refer is found in John 19:30, where we read: “When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, He said, It is finished: and He bowed His head, and gave up the ghost”. I say that this is a most important question because it gets at the very heart of our Christian faith. So, why did the Lord Jesus come into this world in the first place? He came into the world to save sinners (1 Timothy 1:15), because there was no other way for poor, lost sinners like you and me to be saved except that He offer Himself up for us as a sin offering on the cross of Calvary (Romans 3:23; 6:23;2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 John 4:10; John 18:11). Having thus completed the work that His Father sent Him to do by shedding His precious blood on that cross, Jesus pronounced that this work of atonement for our sins was now completed. Nothing more was required to redeem lost, ruined sinners, and thus the door of salvation was now open to all who would place their trust and faith in this finished work on the cross. At that point, and only then, He willingly and purposefully gave up His spirit and died.

To sum up, I will quote the MacDonald Bible Commentary on Christ’s finished work on the cross in the section on Matthew 27: “It was during that time that He bore the indescribable curse of our sins. In those three hours were compressed the hell which we deserved, the wrath of God against all our transgressions. We see it only dimly; we simply cannot know what it meant for Him to satisfy all God’s righteous claims against sin. We only know that in those three hours He paid the price, settled the debt, and finished the work necessary for man’s redemption”.

It is interesting to note that in the Greek language, the three words of the Lord Jesus from the cross, “It is finished” is only one word: Teleo.  That word is translated ‘pay’ in Matthew 17:24 which says, “And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received tribute money came to Peter, and said, Doth not your master pay tribute?”  In effect, the words “It is finished” could rightfully be translated as “PAID.”  Indeed, our sins were completely paid for by the finished work of the Lord Jesus on the cross.

And now, my dear friend, have you believed on the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior based upon His finished work of redemption? I pray that you have, and in case of any doubts, here are a few Scriptures that will help: John 3:16; John 5:24; Romans 10:9,10; Ephesians 2:8,9.  (SF)  (534.6)